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Hey all - I messed up the themes. You may have to reselect your theme in the lower left hand corner of the main page.

Last year, after numerous comments & complaints, I decided to start the 'Official Leaf Lovers Thread' - soon after the 'Official Leaf Haters Thread' was born (which completely went against the reason I started the thread in the first place - not for praising the leafs as much trying to keep non-Leafers happy by not filling the board with Leaf talk)

Anyway, the 'Leafs get raked' thread started the hating up again (feel free to read my sole post in that thread) and it is muy frustrating as a Leaf fan to have to deal with it. Y'all hate that there are so many Leaf fans (some are dumb fucks, we know) and we (Leafers) hate how much hatred there is and how quickly we get piled on. These two sides will never see the others point of contention, so why bother continuing with this vicious circle?

So, there will be both positive comments about the Leaf in this thread and there will be critical (NOT negative) comments in this thread, but please, no hating. (and please don't start another Haters thread - is it really necessary?)

I am going to give a brief example of a critical (NOT negative) comments regarding the Leafs;

- McCabe needs to be traded - I cannot believe how horrid he has looked this season.
- MLSE (ownership) is majority owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension. Their mandate is to make a handsome profit, not win Stanley Cups. It is far easier to sell out every game when they give us the impression they are trying to ice a team that can win the Cup than it is to actually win the Cup and raise expectations (which lead to those expectations getting dashed and fans possibly hitting MLSE where it hurts, in their pocket). This is why they have not decided to rebuild like the Flyers recently have done. A lot of Leaf fans these days are all for rebuilding process where we sell off our valuable veterans and get picks/prospects in return. In this new NHL, rebuilding can take 1-3 yrs which is not a long time.

To further muddy the waters, I read a Damien Cox (President of the Leaf Haters club!) blog piece saying that MLSE has it's (greasy) fingers in too many other ventures - the Raptors, Toronto FC, building condos, booking concerts, etc. The result is that there is not enough focus on the hockey team...at least as much as there should be given the market and the fanbase, etc.

So, see, Leaf fans can be critical of their team too!

I will say again, please refrain from hating on the Leafs here (or in another thread) as it simply is not necessary. I, a Leaf fan, am taking the first step towards trying to reduce all the Leaf-related bickering on here. Help me out!

that thread wasn't needed. (Leafs get raked) I understand that people get upset with all the loud, annoying leaf fans but they think all of us are. I thought i remember seeing that someone posted in there cuz of all the obnoxious leaf fans when we hadn't done anything this season yet. They are just as bad IMO.

But as for the rebuilding. I don't understand why we don't. I can see that they don't want to dissapoint the fans with a few bad seasons but that is what most want. As long as it means we will contend afterwards

Time for a new GM, and a Management team that wants to win. I hate the Leafs, but I would like to see them in the playoffs again. The NHL is missing out on huge revenue by not having the most popular team in the playoffs. TV ratings would go up, attendance figures... everything.

Time for a new GM, and a Management team that wants to win. I hate the Leafs, but I would like to see them in the playoffs again. The NHL is missing out on huge revenue by not having the most popular team in the playoffs. TV ratings would go up, attendance figures... everything.

Seriously, good points. (and I agree an across-the-organization change is needed...I'd love to start with ownership!)

Seriously, good points. (and I agree an across-the-organization change is needed...I'd love to start with ownership!)

Ownership will never change. That's like telling a group you want to buy their money making machine for a dollar when they know it'll make them 10 dollars that year.

What the Leafs need is a good GM, like the Raptors GM. One that wants to win, not just stay put because the building is full and the merch is selling.

I know it's hard to envision if you've tried to buy a Leaf ticket the last 10 years, but if they keep losing and missing the playoffs, the fans will finally get fed up. That is when you'll see MLSE do something, but not until then.

Ownership will never change. That's like telling a group you want to buy their money making machine for a dollar when they know it'll make them 10 dollars that year.

What the Leafs need is a good GM, like the Raptors GM. One that wants to win, not just stay put because the building is full and the merch is selling.

I know it's hard to envision if you've tried to buy a Leaf ticket the last 10 years, but if they keep losing and missing the playoffs, the fans will finally get fed up. That is when you'll see MLSE do something, but not until then.

You Leaf fans should start a non-sit in, quit buying tickets!

I'd love to but the combination of crazy demand and huge corporate ownership of seats (I'd say at least half the lower bowl are company tickets), it isn't going to happen.

The Maple Leafs realized their effort Tuesday night against Carolina was so dismal they needed an intense practice yesterday to begin their atonement.
Unfortunately for Alex Ponikarovsky, the intensity level nearly left him with a serious knee injury.
The big winger crashed along the boards with another big winger – Chad Kilger – and Ponikarovsky got the worst of it.
"I thought something was wrong," said Ponikarovsky, who barely raised himself to his knees, cursed and smashed his helmet to the ice before limping off with help from the medical staff.
More than an hour after practice, long after the rest of the players had gone, Ponikarovsky emerged from treatments and said he hopes to play tonight when the Leafs face off against the Islanders at the Air Canada Centre.
"I feel okay, we'll see how it goes (today)," said Ponikarovsky, saying he twisted muscles between his knee and ankle on his left leg.
The Ponikarovsky-Kilger collision underlined how intense the practice was and how urgent the team's situation is even at this early juncture.

Or maybe it's that the Canes are good and the Isles are.....well.....the Isles

Same Isles that are leading the Atlantic division! (albeit with a few more gp than anybody else).

I hear ya Tin, this is just my bass-ackwards way of giving the Leafs some credit. They played very well against (IMO) a surprisingly good Isles team. Not saying the Isles are great, but I definitely didn't expect them to come out of the gate this hot.

Another thing to consider... although the Leafs obviously played great, Dubie had a pretty dubious game. I imagine if Ricky D was in goal, it would've been a little closer. Maybe not, and regardless, they played a great game, so good for them (and all you Leaf fans), must be quite nice to see after the thrashing they took against CAR. Congrats to the Leafs and their fans!

Thx chgor! In all seriousness though, I give the Isles about a month's worth of success. Ricky D is their best player for sure, and the free agent line has looked good so far, but I really don't feel they are going to remain a playoff team year-round, but the Canes on the other hand.....they are so fast it was dizzying to watch! Just my opinion, perhaps biased against the Isles, but there it is

I am a steamroller of truth, paving the highway to the future, expect delays!

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